Messambudzi (Rotanda). This site lies on the Chinhadembué Range just north of Messambudzi in the Rotanda administrative post in Sussundenga not far from the Zimbabwe border. The site is very overgrown but the walls and platform are in a good state of preservation. Oliveira the Portuguese archaeologist who visited the site in the 1960s thought that there was a ‘conical tower’ in the middle of the site but my ‘gut feeling’ was that this was more like a platform. We were only able to stay at the site for a few minutes, as we had to get down the mountain before dark. The local ruling lineage is Mucimua, the régulo is in the picture, his people belong the shumba clan and related to Mutasa migrated to the area in about the 18th century from Manica. They attributed the ruins to the Changamire Rozvi but say when they arrived in the area they found no one there (unlikely as their neighbours the Gutsa shava lineage who arrived just before them say the found a people called the matsonno who appear to have been the pre Rozvi Tewe (Quiteve) rulers in the area.) The Rozvi migrations into Tewe and Sanga occurred at the end of the 17th century. I think the site predates this and probably goes back to the Zimbabwe culture itself. I will paste in some more information about some neighbouring’s sites shortly.